Crouching Tiger, Hidden Eagle
The Citizen Mechanical Model is a Japanese take on the sports luxury watch genre
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE that Japanese watchmakers have never deigned to enter the sports luxury watch genre until today. That said, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that four years ago, Citizen Group owned Bulova did release the CURV chronograph which demonstrated what a Japanese take on the sporty integrated-bracelet segment would look like if they did try.
Like Bulova, Citizen is mostly recognised for its fairly-priced yet in-house produced quartz, mechanical and Eco-Drive watches but the Citizen Mechanical Model NC0200-90E is another creature altogether; It bears the Japanese watchmakers first new mechanical movement since 2010.
Equipped with the Caliber 0200 made in collaboration with La Joux-Perret S.A. in Switzerland (also owned by the Group), the Citizen Mechanical Model demonstrates a new level in both construction and aesthetics prompting some collectors to call it “Grand Citizen” after its famed counterpart and competitor in Japan.
Measuring an elegant 40 mm by 10.9 mm, the Citizen takes an interpretative but distinctive look at the commercially competitive Swiss watch segment. Featuring facetted surfaces and impeccable finishing, the Mechanical Model NC0200-90E checks many of the right boxes for integratedbracelet watch aficionados yet still remains an original rather than derivative design. That said, the highlight is the manufacture movement, designed and assembled in-house at Citizen’s Japanese facilities but utilising decorative finishing techniques hailing from Switzerland’s Manufacture La Joux-Perret.
The new Caliber 0200 departs from the typical reliable yet entry-level automatic movements which are emblematic of Citizen. Instead, this movement is best described as a high-end “workhorse” with more finesse and sophistication than competing products in its price category. What makes the Citizen Mechanical Model extra compelling is that from its design to its decoration, its construction par excellence is matched only by the technical achievement which sees the 0200 tested in a 17 day trial and adjusted to specifications exceeding the Swiss industry’s own chronometer specifications. The average daily deviation of the Mechanical Model NC0200-90E remains within -3 and +5 seconds earning it a “Certificate of Compliance”.
A “fusion of Japanese and Swiss watchmaking cultures”, it is equipped with a free-sprung balance wheel, the Calibre 0200 is a classic time-only movement, with seconds displayed in a subsidiary dial. While it is thoroughly traditional in its construction and architecture, its escapement utilises advanced manufacturing techniques, using the LIGA fabrication processes involving photolithography and electro-casting methods for exacting tolerances.
Expertly finished with great attention to details, satinated surfaces and hand polished chamfered edges for great contrast, the new automatic movement is encased in a watch that marks the first Japanese entry into on one of the watch world’s most revered categories: the steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet. The exemplary value compensates (by far) the niggling criticism over its less than ideal 50 metres water resistance. La Citizen is the watch to watch for 2021.